Lecture recording in middle school science classrooms

Objective: Lecture recordings, or pre-recorded lecture videos, are widely used tools in both formal and informal learning contexts. Extensive empirical research across various subjects has demonstrated their comparable effectiveness to face-to-face instruction. However, most studies focus on college students, predominantly adult learners, with limited attention to younger students. Findings from adult learners may not directly apply to K-9 students due to their distinct cognitive and emotional development.
Methods: This study addresses this gap by conducting a controlled experiment to compare learning outcomes between lecture recordings and face-to-face instruction among 8th-grade physics students (N = 336).
Results: The results align with the well-known "no significant difference" conclusion from adult studies, showing that learning outcomes from video and face-to-face instruction were equally effective, even for younger learners. Moreover, students' prior knowledge did not affect their learning outcomes or self-assessed understanding. However, students with lower prior knowledge reported greater confidence after face-to-face instruction.